YOUR VIEWS: Letters to the Editor

Friday

Dec 30, 2011 at 12:01 AMDec 30, 2011 at 1:11 AM

-- Voting process not ideal during Election Day

-- Don’t deny access to emergency contraception

Don’t deny access to emergency contraception

On Dec. 7, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled the recommendation of the Food and Drug Administration to make emergency contraception available over the counter for all women. Her decision means that this medication will continue to be available to women 17 and older without prescription but available to those under 17 by prescription only.

President Obama has said he supported the secretary’s decision because he is the parent of two daughters. As a parent and grandparent myself, I disagree. It would be wonderful if teen-agers abstained from sex until they were more mature. If they did have intercourse, it would be wonderful if they used birth control correctly every time. In that ideal world, every teen and parent would have open dialogue about sexuality.

But in the real world, women and men under 17 sometimes have unprotected sex.

The U.S. leads other developed nations in the incidence of teen pregnancies. Emergency contraception can prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex, but its effectiveness declines over time, and it must be taken within five days. Forcing teen-agers to get a physician’s prescription may delay or even prevent vulnerable teens from obtaining a safe medication that can prevent them from becoming pregnant.

This decision presents a real obstacle for teen-agers to prevent an unintended pregnancy. It doesn’t protect their health, but rather it puts them at higher risk for adolescent pregnancies. I urge the Obama Administration to follow the expert recommendation of the FDA.

JOHN H. O’NEILL
Clinton

Voting process not ideal during Election Day

Having volunteered to be a Poll Watcher at John Joy School and others in Rome on Election Day, it was apparent that our Oneida County Board of Election Commissioners had not done their due diligence in preparation.

Arriving shortly after the polls had opened, I immediately noticed that one poll worker had failed to show up. The Commissioners had been notified but offered no solution. A short time later, another poll worker got up and left stating he had just received a call to substitute teach. Neither individual was replaced.

Later, while checking on problems at another polling place, I was informed that the understaffed John Joy voting place at a peak time was experiencing a voting machine breakdown. I decided to head back up, only to find that votes had been taken by hand and not the machine. People who I had spoke to said the lines became very long and chaotic and that upset voters left.

While watching the day’s process, I saw no voter verification -- such as a photo ID or Drivers License, the signature books were a joke and voters were signing upside down.

How could poll workers possibly make a side by side comparison?

Could these problems and others which Rome experienced on election day have been avoided?

The last two election seasons in Oneida County have experienced way to many problems, which have led to inaccurate results, legal action and wasted taxpayer dollars.